Treatment of water to remove silica



March 5, 1946, w. s. WILSON ET AL. 2,396,220

TREATMENT OF WATER TO REMOVE SILICA I Original Filed July lO, 19739 ide.

Patented Mar. 5, 1946 TREATMENT OF WATER TO REMOVE SILICA William S. Wilson, Brookline, and Howard Noyes Dole, Haverhill, Mass., assignors to Monsanto Chemical Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Original application July 10, 1939, Serial No. 283,588. Dividedl and this application April 2, 1943, Serial No. 481,532

20 Claims.

This invention relates to the purication of water and particularlyto the removal, to whatever extent is required, of dissolved silica therefrom.

Natural waters invariably contain silica in dissolved form. In the past, the presence of moderate amounts of silica has been unobjectionable; however, with the introduction of various modern industrial processes and equipment, as for example, the high-pressure steam boilers, the removal of silica has become a vital necessity since it tends to form a scale, especially if the water also con tains calcium or aluminum, which scale is hard, dense and resists heat transfer to such an extent as to impair the usefulness and safety of the heat transfer surfaces.

It has been shown heretofore by others that silica may be removed from water by treatment with a oc of ferrous, ferrie, or aluminum hydrox- The quantity of floc required has, however, been extremely large if a water of low silica content is desired. Consequently, for some industrial purposes, especially in the generation of highpressure steam, water, which is essentially free of silica, is costly.

One object of this invention is the provision I a method for removal of substantially all of the silica present in water to render it useful for high.-

' pressure steam boilers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for removal of silica by which the size of equipment and the quantity of reagents required are greatly reduced as compared to known means foraccomplishing this end.

As a result of our investigation, we have found that silica is present in water in two forms. These are designated, as a matter of convenience and in View oi their distinguishing characterisv tics, by the terms negative colloid and positive ion. The negative colloid or negatively charged colloidal silica is that form oi silica which is picked up by a, positively charged fioc,

for example, ferric hydrate or aluminum hydrate, which has been made in water having a pil prei-` V minum hydrate in water which is at a pI-i above *7.

If all the silica were present as a negative colloid, it could be removed completely from' water by a very small dosage of the conventional coagulants with the water at a. pH below '7. The lower the pH of the water being treated, the smaller lthe dosage necessary until about 4.5 pH for ferrie oxide and 5.5 pH for A120: is reached. A' pH much below this will result in a poor floc or even no floc at all, a fact that is well recognized.

This colloidal silica can be removedin another way. If a floc is made in water above '7 pH it drags down with it a large part of the negative colloid. To make a iloc in water above 'l pH in the presence of a negative colloid is`not always simple because of the peptizing action of the negatively charged colloid on the negatively charged iloc. It can be made, however, in the presence of' reasonable amounts of hardness. Positive calcium ions, for example, overcome the peptizing eiect of the negativecolloid. It cannot be done without hardness because sodium ions have an insuicient coagulating effect. In addition carrying down the colloidal silica the coagulant also adsorbs its quota of positive ion silica. If enough coagulant is used, practically complete removal of the SiOc will result, but this would be an ineiiicient use of the coagulent as will be shown hereinafter.

'We have found that silica present in water as a negative col'old is converted to positive ions when the pH of the water is raised. The rate of change is increased with increase in pH and with increase in the amount of colloid present. For example, a Water at 9 pH containing 14 P. P. M. SiOz as negative colloid and 21 P. P. M. S102 as positive ions does not seem to lose much negative colloid while at the same pH. water containing 20 P. P. M. SiOz as negative colloid and 30 RPM. positive ions, loses very quickly one-third its negative colloid with a corresponding increase in positive ions. i

In generalit is more economical, especially if the per cent of negative colloidal silica in the water is high, to remove it separately from the water by means of a positively charged floc with the water at a pH between 4.5 and 6, than it is to convert it to' positive ions and subsequently to remove the ions in the manner previously described.

We havealso discovered that the removal of positive ion silica bymeans of iron or aluminum floc is an adsorption phenomenon and the equilibrium relationships of this silica in solution and the silica adsorbed ls essentially a logarithmic function. This equilibrium relationship is expressed graphically in the accompanying figure wherein the residual positive ion ysilica-insolumeans oi a iioc in a counter-current continuous or counter-current batch process. In other words, the iresh oc comes incontact with the partially processed Water While the partially spent or used oc is brought into contact with the raw Water. in this way, it is possible to reduce the positive ion silica to almost any desired concentration.

As a further feature to our invention, vve have discovered that Whereas the positive ion silica is removed most' advantageously with the water containing it at a pH above 7, and preferably at about 9, the rico used need not be made at this pH, and in fact it is desirable that it be made at a lower pl-l to avoid sodium ion adsorption which reduces the eiectiveness of the oc. Thus, We have found, for example, that as much as more silica per unit of FezOa maiI be removed with a ferrie hoc made at a pH of a to 6 than one made at a pH above 7. This is illustrated by two of the curves in the g-ure.

It is apparent that the colloidal silica may be removed by means of a oo which is positively charged, i. e. 'has a pi-l below 6 or 7 and above 4.5, or by means oi a oc which is above a pH of 7, provided sufcient calcium ions (hardness) are present to overcome the peptizing eiect of the negative colloid, or by other means or conditions which overcome the peptizing efect, as for exam ple, the presence of a suiiicient excess of positive ion silica. The amount of oc necessary for removing the colloidal silica in either case is small. With a highly charged nocsay of pH 4.5, it is .possible to remove as much as four parts oi SiOzl in the form oi a negative colloid with one part of ferrie lloc. Even at a pH of 6, it requires only 3 parts of FezOs to remove one part of SiOi. By comparison, the amount of positivel ion silica which is removed under similar conditions is y really insigniiicant.

The following example illustrates the practice of our invention and the manner of using the adsorption curve, illustrated in the gure, which is based on FezOs iloc made at pH 9 from ferrie sulfate and an alkali. It should be remembered that natural waters are variable materials, and it is wise to make separate curves for each water to betreated.

Assuming for the purpose of this example that the finished water shall not contain more than one part per million of positive ion silica and that the raw water contains 32.7 parts per million of silica in the form of positive ions, it is evident that if a single batch treatment were to be used, the weight ratio of positive ion silica to ferrie iioc at the end of the treatment must not exceed about .042 (see curve for Fe203 oc made at pH 9 in the g'ure) For the purpose of this example, it is assumed that 150 parts of F8203, made at pH 9, is to be used in the form of a hydrate oc for each million parts of water and that the final Water must notI have in excess of one part per million of positive ion silica. The problem presented is how many counter-current batch treatments will be necessary. Y

asoaaso Sauron CALeULA'rIon more Couvrir Final pass m iS-'EFW equal to .042 on doc.

Since -SM2 (soorbedora eac P. r. M. sro.

l5 is adsorbed on doc during nal pass.

Water leaving contains 1.00 PLRiiSiOz' Floc contains 6.29 RP. M. SiO? 2@ Water entering centesimi--- me er. sie.;

Next to last poss Water leaving must contain same amount of SiOi as Water entering iinal pass, to wit 7.29 P. P. ivi. SiOz.

According to the ngure: 7.29 P. P. M. Sim in solution gives a ratio ci equal to`.ll2 or F6203 (150) 150 3@ Floc contains 16.8 Rlfii. Ot which 6.29 l?. P. M. SiOa was adsorbed in nai pass Sion put on oc in this pass 10.51 P. P. M. SiOz.

"r" e203 (roof Total S102 adsorbed S103 previously adsorbed 16.8 RP. hf.

Sich adsorbed during present pass Water entering contained l.8+9.3=27.1 P. P. M. Sion I Third from last pass I Water leaving eontamed.-- 27.1 ne. is. sica SiOg adsorhedn212 Fei (L50) Total S102 adsorbed =150x.212=31.7 P. P. lill.

SiO: adsorbed previously 26.1 RP. M.. m.

S102 adsorbed during present pass 5.6 ERM.

Water entering contained 2r.l+5.6=32.7 P. P. M. Sion Thus e. four step or four stage counter-current batch system would be necessary to obtain the desired quality of water, namely having l P. P. iv. SiO: using 150 P. P. M. of oo.

It can be seen from the curve that had lo P. P. M. of fresh Foros oc (made at pH 9) been used in a single batch of water containing' v 32.7 P. P. M. SiOz, the result would have been a water from which 21 P. P. M. SiOz had been afi-- 25 Smbed and 11.7 P. P. M. left as residual S162. it

9.3 P. P. M. S102 can also be seen from the curve that a single batch treatment of water containing 32.7 P. P. M. SiO: would require 755 P. P. M. Fe203 to reduce it to 1 P. P. M. residual silica. Thus under the condition of the example, the single batch process leaves 11.7 times as much S102 in solution as in the case of the countercurrent treatment using the same quantity of FezOa, or it requires 5.04

- times as much FezOs to produce the same result as the counter-current process. These results are typical. EXAMPLE 2 Using 150 parts of ferrie floc made at a pH of 5 per million parts of water and otherwise following a three-step or three stage counter-current batch procedure with the water being treated at pH 9, it is possible to treat Water having as high as 37.2 P. P. M. of positive ion silica and still produce water of 1 P. P. M. or less of silica. The stepwise calculations follow:

Final 'pass Water leaving l P. P. M. S102. Si02=.05 7.5y P. P. M. SiOz is on floc.

Water leaving contains 1.00 P. P. M. SiOz Floc contains 7.50

water entering contained- 8.50 P. P. M. sioe Net to last pass Water leaving is same as water entering last pass or 8.50 P. P. M. S102.

%=.162.2 24.3 P. P. M. SiOz is on oc Floc contains 24.3 P. P. M. SiOz total SiOz previously on floc 7.5

SiOz on at this pass 16.8 P. P.

Entering water s.5o+16.s='=25.3 P. P. M. sioi.

Second last pass I EXAMPLE 3 Using 150 parts of an alumina iloc per million of water and otherwise following a two step counter-current batch procedure, one may start with a water containing 74.7 P. P. M. ofpositive ion silica and deliver a finished water having less than l P. P. M. of silica. The step-wise calcu-V lations follow:

Final pass Water leaving 1 P. P. M. SiOz l?-1[-)2=.116:.17.4 P. P. M. sio2 on fioe 150 y Water leaving contains 1.00 P. P. M. SiOz Floc contains 17.4 P. P. M. SiOz Water entering contained 18.4 P. P. M. S102 Next last pass Water leaving is same as water entering last pass or 18.4 P. P. M. S102.

-5%=.492.. 73.7 P. P. M. Sio2 is'on fioo.`

Fxoo contains '13.7 P. P. M. S102 Previously on floc 17.4 P. P. M. S102 sioi on at this pass 56.3 P. P. M. S102 Entering water 18. 4|56.3=74.7 P. P. M. SiOz.

Although the alumina floc is relatively more A effective than the ferrie floc as far as silica removal is concerned, its use is attended by certain shortcomings not shared by iron flocs due apparently to the solubility of the alumina fioc in the water. For this reason, we usually prefer iron hydroxide ilocs.

In preparing an adsorption curve for a particu- Alar water, the procedure which may be followed can readily be understood from the following description. In general, we prefer to remove the colloidal silica, especially if the amount thereof is known to be large, before estimating the amount of positive ion silica. To this end, we reduce the pH of the water sample to about 4 or 5, and thereafter precipitate the colloidal silica by the addition of a. small amount of ferrie oc. It has already been indicated above that the amount of ferrie floc necessary for this purpose is very small and does not affect significantly the amount ofl positive Vion silica present. Thereafter, we determine the amount of silica in the water gravimetrically and take this to be the total positive ion silica present.

After adjusting its pH to 9, the prepared water is divided into as many parts as are required to construct a curve, usually 5 or 6 parts are sufficient. We then add a known quantity of floc to a known quantity of water, mix the lloc thoroughly to establish equilibrium conditions and ascertain the amount of silica left in the water by gravimetric method. The dierence between the silica contents before and after the treatment represents the amount of silica adsorbed. By repeating the experiment on fresh samples of the prepared water, using differing quantities of floc,

a curve representing the equilibrium relationship between residual positive ion silica in solution and the ratio of adsorbed silica to the i'loc, may be constructed readily. ,The results so obtained are then tabulated or plotted as illustrated in the figure.

While for most purposes, the successive counter-current batch-.wise treatment of water, as illustrated in the examples, has been found convenient, other methods may be employed; for example, the continuous ow of water through a series of settling basins or thickeners, the clear eilluent being mixed with comparatively fresher iioc and again settled, whereas the thickened oc is mixed with relatively raw water and settled. 'I'he mechanical means for and mechanical method ofhandling the solutions and oc may vary widely insofar as the present invention is concerned. See in this connection U. S. Patent 2,006,8534wherein a counter-current treatment of aqueous alum solution with lead peroxide to remove soluble iron impurities is described. Similar handling maybe applied here.

The preparation of the floc for use in the present process involves simply the precipitation of an aqueous solution of a salt of the metal by means of a base and as already indicated, preferablyv under controlled pH conditions. The water-soin ble salt which forms concurrently with the iioc may rst be washed free of the floc by means of water if the addition of the soluble salt to the water to be de-silicied would be objectionable.

The term iioc appearing in the claims is understood to contemplate flocs of aluminum, ferrous or ferric hydroxidesor mixtures thereof.

We are aware that it has been proposed heretofore to treat water successively with coaguiant, including coagulants of iron and aluminum types, and we are also aware that it has been proposed heretofore to remove silica by means of a hoc. However, we makeno claims to such methods or treatments.

This application is a division of our copending application Serial No. 283,588, filedJuly l0, 1939.

What we claim is:

1. The method of removing positive ion silica from water having a pH value above 7 and below l0, which comprises subjecting the water to a treatment with a iioc of a metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferrie hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment includes contacting the water successively with iioc substantially saturated with silica and then with fiocs o f diminishing silica contentv until iinally the substantially silica free water is contacted with fresh floc; and finally separating the oc from the silica free water, said contacting treatment in each instance including agitating the water and iioc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the iioc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the fioc to settle.

2. The method of removing positive ion silica from water containing the same, which comprises adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of thevwater to a pH above 7 and below 10 by adding an alkaline substance thereto, then subjecting the water to a treatment with a fioc of a meta1 hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferrie hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment includes contacting the water successively with iioc substantially saturated with silica and then with flocs of diminishing silica content until finally the substantially silica free water is contacted with fresh iioc; and iinally separating the iioc from the silica free water, said contacting treatment in each instance including agitating the water and iioc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the iioc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the fioc to settle.

3. The method as dened in claim 1 and further characterized in that the treatment with the oc is e'lected in a continuous manner.

4. The method as defined in claiml and further characterized in that the meta1 hydroxide fioc employed is formed at a pH less than the pH of the water being treated.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 and `further characterized in that the water is provided with a pI-I above- 7 and below 10 and themetal hydroxide oc employed is separately made at a pH of about 4 to 6.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that the metal hydroxide oc employed is made in water at a pH above 7 and below 10 and in the presence of calcium ions.

7. The method as defined in claim l and further characterized in that the metal hydroxide oc employed is ferric hydrate.

8. The method as donned in claim 1 and fur ascenso ther characterized in that the metal hydroxide oc employed is ferrous hydrate.

9. l'l'.*he method as defined in claim i and iurther characterized in that the meta1 hydroxide iioc employed is aluminum hydrate.

10. The method o removing dissolved silica `from water at a pH between 4.5 and 7, which sil ica is present both as negatively charged colloidal silica and as positive ion silica, which comprises precipitating the colloidal silica by means of a positively charged fioc, removing the oc and precipitated silica from the water, adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the water to a p above 7 and below 10 by adding an alkaline substance thereto, then subjecting the water to a treatment with a oc of a meta1 hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferrie hydroin` ide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment includes contacting the water successively with loc substantially saturated with silica and then with ficos of diminishing silica content until finally the substantially silica free water is contacted with fresh noo; and separating the iioc from the water with at least a portion of said positive ion silica adsorbed thereon, said contacting treatmentl in each' 'instance including agitating the water and floc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the loc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the ioc to settle.

11. The method of removing dissolved silica from water containing the same, which silica -is present both' as negatively charged colloidal silica and as positive ion silica, which comprises adyjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the water to a pH between 4.5 and 7 by adding an acid substance thereto, precipitating the colloidal silica by adding a positively charged floc to the water, removing the fioc and precipitated silica from the water, adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the water to a pH above 7 and below 10 by adding an alkaline substance thereto, then subjecting the water to a treatment with a ioc of a metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferric hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment includes contacting the water successively with fioc substantially saturated with silica and then with ilocs of diminishing silica content until nally the substantially silica free water is contacted with fresh oc; and separating the iioc from the water with' at least a portion of said positive ion silica adsorbed thereon, said contacting treatment in each instance including agitating the water and oc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the oc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the iioc to settle.v

12. The method oi' removing dissolved silica from water containing the same, which silica is present both as negatively charged colloidal silica and as positive ion silica, which comprises adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the Water to a pH of approximately 4.5 to 6 by adding an acid substance thereto, precipitating the colloidal, silica by adding a metal hydroxide fioc to the water, removing said loc and precipitated silica from the water, adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the water to a pH above 7 and below 10 by adding an alkaline substance thereto, then subjecting the water to a treatment with a loc of a metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferric hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which oc has been separately made at assenso a pH of about 4 to 6, and which treatment includes contacting the water successively with iloc substantially saturated With silica and 'then with iiocs of diminishing silica content until iinally the substantiallyA silica free water is contacted with fresh lloc; and separating the iioc from. the water with at least a portion of said positive ion silica adsorbed thereon, said contacting treatment `in each instance including agitating the water and oc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the floc and thesilica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the iioc to settle.

13. The method as defined in claim 10 and further characterized in that the iioc used to adsorb the positive ion silica is made in water at a DH above l and in the presence of hardness.

14. The method as defined in claim 10 and further characterized in that the removal of the positive ion silica is effected in a series of separate and successive stages.

15. The method as defined in claim l0 and further characterized in that the removal of the positive ion silica is effected in a continuous manner.

16. The method as defined in claim 12 and further characterized in that the metal hydroxide ocs employed are ferrie hydrates.

17. The method as dened in claim 12 and further characterized in that the metal hydroxide ilocs employed are ferrous hydrates.

18. The method kas defined in claim 12 and further characterized in that themetal hydroxide ilocs employed are aluminum hydrates.

19. The method of removing dissolved silica from water having a pH above 7 and below 10, which silica is present both as negatively charged Acolloidal silica' and as positive ion silica, which comprises subjecting the water to a treatment with a iioc ci' a metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of ferrie hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment is carried out' in the presence of hardness and includes contacting the water successively with iloc substantially saturated with silica and then with flocs of diminishing silica content until iinally the substantially silica free water is contacted with fresh iloc, said contacting treatment in eachinstance including agitating the water and floc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the fioc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the iioc to settle.

20. The method of removing dissolved silica from water containing the same, which silica is present bothas negatively charged colloidal silica and as positive ion silica, which comprises adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the water to a pH above 7 and below 10 by adding an alkaline substance thereto, and then subjecting the water to a treatment with a ilccl of a metal hydroxiderselected from the group consisting of ferrie hydroxide, ferrous hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and mixtures thereof, which treatment is carried out in the presence of hardness and includes contacting the water successively with oc substantially saturated with silica and with ilocs of diminishing silica content until iinally the substantiallysilica free water is contacted with fresh fioc, said contacting treatment in each instance including agitating the water and floc until equilibrium between the silica adsorbed on the oc and the silica remaining in solution is reached and permitting the floc to settle.

' WILLIAM S. WILSON.

HOWARD NOYES DOLE. 

